Recording the mbira of Southern Africa : a case for establishing empirical acoustic-based recording methods of traditional instruments

Abstract

For this research an experiment was done in an attempt to establish a method for recording the mbira of Southern Africa. This work is important because it seeks to address some gaps in knowledge pertaining to recording practices of indigenous instruments. The idea was to bridge the gap between ethnomusicology and music technology to improve studio practices for recording African musical instruments, specifically the mbira. An experiment was carried out to determine how the acoustic properties of the mbira together with well-known standard recording techniques could assist in providing practitioners with information about best-practice for recording such an instrument. A recording technique to record the mbira was established. A mixed methods approach was implemented so that both qualitative and quantitative data could be obtained. This included the collection of quantitative data using investigative techniques and conducting interviews with participants to collect qualitative information. A summary of the findings may be found in the final chapter of this dissertation.